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Should John Camilleri have been appointed as chairman of the PBS editorial board?
for… As expected… but still unfair. I recall Evarist Bartolo publicly threatening Professor Wain with his removal from lecturing, when the Labour Party would return to office. This was because the good professor took an active part during the EU “IVA” campaign. He reasoned that a Labour administration cannot function with people who do not share their opinions and polices.
Now we have the same Labour Party complaining about the appointment of John Camilleri because he held several posts as an appointee of the Nationalist administration. True to form they continually contradict themselves, so regularly that it is now almost expected of them.
The MLP’s criticism of the appointment of John Camilleri as chairman of the editorial board of PBS was expected. If anything, it is more of the same from the present crop of Labour spokespersons. However, if one knows the facts and analyses them fairly one has to arrive to the conclusion that the MLP has not changed and is intrinsically an unfair and intolerant party.
In May 2004, the government published a national broadcasting policy. This policy established that “alongside” the board of directors of PBS, there should also be an editorial board reporting to the chairman of the company but which focuses exclusively on the news room and current affairs programmes and the programmes schedules for both TV and radio stations. The first chairman of the editorial board was Fr Joe Borg. The other two voting members of the board were Prof Dominic Fenech and Dr Mary Anne Lauri. About a year ago Fr Borg resigned. Prof Fenech and Dr Lauri during the last year were alternating every month performing duties of acting chairperson. When Fr Borg was appointed chairman, the MLP criticised this appointment as politically motivated. Now it is worth reminding readers that Prof Fenech is a former secretary general of the MLP… yet he was appointed on the editorial board. As we were duly reminded by Minister Austin Gatt earlier this week, both Prof Fenech and Dr Lauri executed their duties with fairness and integrity.
The criticism of John Camilleri’s appointment centres solely on the fact that he was close to the Nationalist Party in the past, the biggest crime he committed was that of being private secretary to Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami for four years. The fact that John Camilleri served as member, or deputy chairman of various government boards such as Telemalta, Maltacom, Malta Freeport, Mid-Med Bank, Middle Sea Insurance is a glorious track record for him. He always executed his duties with meticulous integrity, honesty, dedication and social conscience. He also served as CEO of the Employment & Training Corporation for five years, during which he transformed this employment service into one comparable to similar services in Europe. John Camilleri worked as CEO for the Malta Trade Fairs Corporation for three years and lately spent almost a year in Brussels working as PA to the first Maltese EU Commissioner Dr Joe Borg. John Camilleri graduated late in his career; he obtained a Masters in Human Resources from the renowned Erasmus University of Rotterdam. I suppose no one would argue that John Camilleri is not prepared for this new responsibility bestowed upon him by the Cabinet. Not even the MLP said so.
Another person connected with Prime Minister Fenech Adami in the past who attracted the MLP’s criticism was Mr Alfred Fiorini Lowell, who after a brilliant career in the civil service was appointed chairman of the public service commission. The MLP opposed also this appointment. Mr Fiorini Lowell was joint private secretary to Prime Minister Fenech Adami in the same period when John Camilleri was private secretary. In Mr Fiorini Lowell’s case the MLP was proved totally wrong. And I bet they will be similarly proved wrong in their criticism of John Camilleri’s appointment.
David Agius is a Nationalist MP
against… The government has expressed surprise at our criticism on the appointment of Mr John Camilleri – an ex-administrative secretary to the Nationalist party and private secretary to a Nationalist prime minister – as chairperson of the PBS editorial board.
Had Mr Camilleri been appointed head of PBS, that would have been regarded as the usual political appointment. But this is much more serious and one must distinguish the difference. We are here talking of the person having the final say on an editorial board responsible for, amongst other things, the content of news bulletins and current affairs programmes on national television.
No matter how professional Mr Camilleri is, his political baggage is far too heavy. What’s more, this appointment comes into effect – after a year of dilly-dallying – very close to a national election, a time when it is even more important to ensure that certain sensitive posts which will involve delicate and maybe controversial decision-making, are not filled on the basis of political criteria.
The PBS editorial board is autonomous, and it is expected – all the time – to employ and show impartiality and fairness. What happens when the wrong decision is taken and it is too late for redress for the injured party? Who will decide what to do for instance when on the eve of an election the prime minister tells a lie about the leader of the opposition on national television and the leader of the opposition does not have the opportunity to say that it is a lie and the next day is the day of reflection when no politics can be aired on TV?
Who will the decide whether to issue a statement right after the programme with the leader of the opposition’s declaration? What will Mr Camilleri do in such a scenario? We know this happened and it was proved in court that Dr Fenech Adami was not telling the truth, but of course it was too late, the harm to Labour was done, and that was the intention.
Dr Fenech Adami as prime minister had promised us a ‘new spring’ for our public life. Dr Gonzi declared his commitment to do politics in a new way. Is this how we’re supposed to be looking forward and moving on? On the contrary, it’s the very old way of employing the patronage system of doing politics.
Helena Dalli is a Labour MP
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